Assessment: Should We Pursue This New Project?

Is the project led by a small, focused team that has relevant experience and is mentally prepared to tackle common innovation challenges, such as rapid changes in strategic direction and significant resource constraints?
Has the team lived with, shopped alongside, worked next to, or otherwise invested enough time with prospective customers to develop an empathetic understanding of them?
In considering new ways to serve these customers, did the team comprehensively review developments in other industries and parts of the world?
Can the team clearly define the first customer and a path to reaching others?
Is the project consistent with an area of strategic opportunity that you’ve identified in which the company has a compelling competitive advantage?
Is the business model described in detail? Does it specify the channel to market, along with required suppliers and other key partners?
Does the team have a believable hypothesis about how the offering will make money? Has it figured out what critical assumptions must be true for the hypothesis to hold?
Has the team developed well-defined objectives, specific predictions, and a tactical execution plan to test all these assumptions, beginning with the most important ones?
Are fixed costs low enough to permit course corrections down the road?
Has the team demonstrated a clear bias toward action by rapidly prototyping the idea to test its viability with potential customers?